IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CPAClub®, a leading provider of expert accounting and strategic advisory solutions, today announced the availability of its new Guardian Pass, an annual subscription designed to help CPA firms plan, execute, and sustain the ongoing and periodic monitoring activities required under the AICPA’s System of Quality Management standards (SQMS) and the PCAOB’s QC 1000.
The Guardian Pass is built for firms that have completed design and implementation and are now entering the monitoring phase following the December 15, 2025 SQMS deadline. As firms move into their first full year operating under SQMS, and PCAOB registered firms that implemented QC 1000 early use 2026 as a dry run year, the challenge is shifting from getting the system implemented to sustaining a monitoring engine that actually works in practice.
Quality management monitoring now requires consistent execution, strong documentation discipline, risk-driven evaluation, and a regular cadence of follow-up and remedial actions. For many firms, this translates into dozens to hundreds of partner and manager level hours each year, often competing with client service, busy season priorities, and leadership responsibilities. When handled internally, monitoring can quietly become one of the most time-consuming and least predictable operational burdens firms face.
CPAClub’s Guardian Pass is designed to simplify that reality through a structured, continuous approach to monitoring, supported by enabling technology and aligned with the requirements of the new standards. Guardian supports ongoing and periodic monitoring activities throughout the year, including engagement inspections, use of quality indicators, root cause analysis, remediation planning and support, and evidence-based evaluation. The result is a monitoring program that is operational, defensible, and sustainable without overloading firm leadership or key personnel.
“Implementation is just the beginning,” said Brian Yujuico, Senior Vice President of CPAClub. “The firms that succeed will be the ones that stop treating monitoring as a compliance obligation they squeeze in between client work and instead use it as a transformative process to strengthen the foundation of their A&A practices. Guardian is our answer to the real work ahead.”
CPAClub’s Guardian Pass supports a firm’s monitoring program through a co-sourced or outsourced delivery model, helping firms establish cadence, evaluate results, and drive action in response to identified matters. This approach allows firm leaders to remain focused on serving clients and developing people while maintaining confidence that monitoring obligations are being executed thoroughly and consistently.
For firms that are still early in their quality management journey, CPAClub’s Compass Pass remains available to support both SQMS and QC 1000 implementation. Compass is designed for firms still building their system of quality management, while Guardian supports firms as they transition from implementation to continuous monitoring.
Drew Carrick joins CPAClub to help lead CPA firm experience and strategy
CPAClub also announced that Drew Carrick, widely known across the profession as The Rapping CPA, has joined the organization full time, returning to public accounting in a role aligned with his values and vision.
Drew will help lead CPA firm experience and strategy initiatives, with a focus on telling the CPAClub story, elevating the passholder experience, and helping firms drive positive cultural change.
“Drew has a rare ability to translate what CPAClub is building into a story that resonates with firms and with the profession,” said Chris Vanover, Founder and President of CPAClub. “He understands our model, our mission, and the challenges firms are facing, and he will help make our story resonate in a way that is clear, authentic, and differentiated.”
“CPAClub is challenging the assumptions that have defined public accounting for decades,” said Drew Carrick. “I’m excited to help tell that story, elevate the experience for passholders, and help move the profession forward.”
About CPAClub
CPAClub is transforming how public accounting firms and companies meet accounting, advisory and assurance requirements by turning the traditional model upside down. Founded and led by one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and one of CPA Practice Advisor’s 20 Under 40 Top Influencers, CPAClub was recognized as the CalCPA Firm of the Year and a Top New Product by Accounting Today. CPAClub offers onshore accounting, advisory and assurance solutions throughout the United States and abroad via its award-winning subscription model. Learn more at cpaclub.cpa.
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